Bowman on the Road: Taylor is looking the real deal

Mark Dunford

Whoever, at Sussex Cricket, was responsible for bringing Ross Taylor to this club will probably be feeling a warm glow at this time.

His appointment as NatWest T20 Blast skipper is really starting to work and you get the feeling his contributions will lead us to quarter final qualification.

Bowman at the Swalec. Five down from 14 games.

After a scratchy start at Arundel and at Hove his has now got used to English conditions and has scored 102 runs in three innings.

Indeed that is his average over those three games. As skipper you just get the feeling that he has this squad revved up and excited to be out there. The world class New Zealander from Lower Hut, near Wellington, is bringing a wealth of experience and talent right to the heart of Sussex Cricket.

The latest NatWest T20 Blast fell casualty to heavy rain in the Principality.

BBC forecasts, in my opinion, can always be relied upon and they had reflected very poor conditions in Cardiff yesterday afternoon/evening.

The all important toss. Eyes on the coin

However that didn't prevent Paul and I from making a rather tortuous 6 hour drive down the M4. Travelling past Heathrow airport the temperature was a balmy 25 degrees but soon after Reading the mercury dropped alarmingly.

As we inched past Bristol monsoon rain was falling with outside temps of 14 degrees. But every cloud has a silver lining and as we parked up outside the Swalec blue skies could be detected and a hint of sun. That meant the ground staff had something to work with and two hours later a nine over match started.

Luke and Chris both came and went very quickly but as eluded to above Ross Taylor calmly got his head down with some solid batting. He was joined by Welsh-born Phil Salt, who has been patiently waiting for a start in this 2017 campaign.

The popular Brighton and Hove CC player immediately struck back to back boundaries and was very exciting through out his 28 not out. Phil if you are reading just a word of advice from an old codger. Forget the trick shots and just play straight. You have a great eye and can generate a lot of power. I hope to see you batting for Sussex again very soon.

Adrian Harms reporting for BBC Sussex Radio

Glamorgan CCC did everything in their power to save the occasion and were very convivial hosts. But rain never mixes well with cricket and after 8 overs (Sussex 87 for 2) another light shower passed across and that was that. A point on the road.

Chuffed to bits that Paul and I kept this 2017 T20 adventure going against all the odds. The old Peugeot 206, now with 93k on the clock didn't miss a beat making mid Sussex at 1am this morning. We now very much look forward to welcoming Kent CCC to our beautiful home in Hove on Sunday afternoon. It's sure to be a very popular occasion and whilst it's not must win, lets just say two points would be very handy right now!